System and method for processing value documents

ABSTRACT

A system and a corresponding method for processing value documents, including bank notes, includes an apparatus for processing, for conveying and/or checking and/or counting and/or sorting value documents and a portable user interface configured for receiving information pertaining to the apparatus and/or the processing of the value documents, capturing one or several images, in particular of the apparatus, and reproducing the received information and/or captured images.

This invention relates to a system and a method for processing valuedocuments, in particular bank notes, according to the independentclaims.

In bank-note processing systems, bank notes are checked with regard tovarious properties, such as printed image, denomination, authenticityand state, and treated differently depending on the result of the check.For example, bank notes classified as authentic upon the check arereturned to circulation provided they simultaneously meet certainfitness criteria. In contrast, bank notes classified as false or suspectare taken out of circulation, and soiled, worn or defective bank notesare fed to a shredder for destruction.

In spite of the high level of automation upon processing bank notes, aninteraction between an operator and the bank note processing system isnormally necessary to monitor the operating state of the system or theprocessing of the bank notes and, where applicable, to allow the inputof control commands for controlling the processing. The user interfacesusually provided here do not in all cases of application have thenecessary degree of ergonomics, however.

It is the object of the invention to state a system as well as a methodfor processing value documents, which enables a communication betweenoperator and processing apparatus improved with respect to ergonomics.

This object is achieved by the system and method according to theindependent claims.

The system for processing value documents, in particular bank notes,according to the invention, has an apparatus for processing, inparticular for conveying and/or checking and/or counting and/or sorting,value documents and a portable user interface configured for receivinginformation pertaining to the apparatus and/or the processing of thevalue documents, capturing one or several images, in particular of theapparatus, and reproducing the received information and/or capturedimages.

In the methods for processing value documents, in particular bank notes,according to the invention, value documents are processed in anapparatus, in particular are conveyed and/or checked and/or countedand/or sorted, information pertaining to the apparatus and/or theprocessing of the value documents is received by a portable userinterface, one or several images, in particular of the apparatus, arecaptured by the portable user interface and the received informationand/or captured images are reproduced by the portable user interface.

The invention is based on the approach of providing one or several userinterfaces for the operation of value-document processing apparatuses,which user interfaces are arranged so as to be mobile or portable, i.e.can be carried or taken along by an operator, and receive information,capture images, and can reproduce the received information and/orcaptured images. The received information is in particular informationpertaining to the value-paper processing apparatus to be operated, e.g.the operating state thereof, and/or the processing of value documents,e.g. beginning and end of the processing or value-paper jam, in theapparatus to be operated. The user interface is configured in particularfor capturing images of the apparatus and/or of actions performed by anoperator in connection with the processing of the value documents.

For example, the portable user interface can be arranged such that thereceived information is reproduced in the visual field of an operator,so that the operator when looking, for example, at a portion of theprocessing apparatus gets additional information displayed which isconnected with the respectively viewed portion of the apparatus. Thevisual field of an operator is understood here to be all central andperipheral points and objects of the exterior space, which when lookingin a direction straight on and/or obliquely can be perceived visually,even without staring at them directly.

In another exemplary configuration the portable user interface isarranged as a mobile end device, such as e.g. as a tablet computer orsmartphone, at the display of which an image of a portion of theprocessing apparatus captured with the mobile end device is reproducedtogether with pertaining additional information.

In both cases the operator thus obtains additional information inaddition to the portion respectively viewed or image taken of theportion of the apparatus, without having to look away from the viewedportion or from the viewed image of the portion and to look in thedirection of a display device possibly located at the apparatus itself.This is of particular advantage in situations in which the operator isprompted or instructed by means of additional information to executecertain actions, for example, upon the remedying of a jam occurred uponprocessing the value papers.

Depending on the concrete configuration of the user interface, thenon-stationary visual field of the operator or the non-stationary fieldof vision of a camera provided at the user interface for image captureforms an output area movable with the eye of the operator or the fieldof vision of the camera for visually outputting additional information,so that the pertaining additional information is especially easy tocapture by the operator.

The invention thus improves the communication between operator andprocessing apparatus with respect to ergonomics.

Preferably, the portable user interface is arranged to enable an inputand/or selection of information, in particular for controlling theapparatus, by an operator. This allows the apparatus to be operated bythe operator from any arbitrary place.

It is further preferred that the portable user interface has a displaydevice mountable at the head of an operator, in particular in the formof glasses, which is configured for visually reproducing the receivedinformation in at least a part of the visual field of the operator. Theuser interface is preferably configured as a so-called head-mounteddisplay (HMD) by which images, symbols, or other signs are representedon a display near the eye or are projected by means of virtual retinaldisplay directly onto the retina. Depending on the concreteconfiguration, the HMD are data glasses or video glasses, a helmetdisplay or a virtual reality helmet (VR helmet).

In a further preferred configuration, the portable user interface has acamera which is configured for capturing images of objects located inthe visual field of the operator. Preferably, the portable userinterface is configured for recognizing a gesture made by the operator,in particular a hand gesture, in the images captured in particular withthe camera, and to derive therefrom corresponding information, inparticular for controlling the apparatus. By such a gesture controlthere can be inputted data or control commands in a comfortable manner,without the operator having to be in the reach of a display device, e.g.a touch screen, mounted to the apparatus.

Preferably, the portable user interface is further configured forreproducing an input scheme, in particular in the form of a keyboard orsymbols, in the visual field of the operator, and for recognizing in thecaptured images a gesture of an input and/or selection made by theoperator with respect to the reproduced input scheme, and for derivingtherefrom respective information, in particular for controlling theapparatus. It is preferred that the portable user interface has aprojection device which is configured for projecting the input schemeonto an area, in particular a hand of the operator or an area in theenvironment of the operator. The projection device is configured e.g. asa laser projector with which by means of laser beam a virtual keypad orsymbol is projected onto an area. In this way, the operator has theinput scheme, e.g. in the form of a keyboard or of symbols, always inthe visual field when inputting and can perform data input or selectionby respective hand gestures, such as e.g. a virtual tapping on thesymbol or a key reproduced in the visual field.

In a further preferred configuration, the portable user interface isconfigured for capturing an image of an object located in the visualfield of the operator, in particular of a value document, a transportcontainer for value documents or a separator card, and for ascertainingadditional information located on the object with the help of thecaptured image. For example, the additional information is applied onthe object as coded information, e.g. in the form of bar codes, or inplaintext, such as e.g. in the form of alphanumeric characters. The userinterface additionally opens up thereby the possibility of machinecapturing additional information located on objects.

Preferably, the portable user interface is arranged as a mobile enddevice, in particular as a tablet computer, data glasses or smartphone,which is configured for capturing at least one image of the apparatus orof a part of the apparatus and for reproducing the received informationpertaining to the apparatus or the part of the apparatus and/or theprocessing of the value documents together with the captured image ofthe apparatus. In analogy to a head-mounted device, the operator thusobtains additional information in addition to the image respectivelytaken of the apparatus, without having to look away from the viewedimage onto a display device possibly located at the apparatus itself.

Further advantages, features and application possibilities of thepresent invention will result from the subsequent description inconnection with the Figures. There are shown:

FIG. 1 an example of a system for processing value documents;

FIG. 2 a first example of a hand gesture in the visual field of anoperator;

FIG. 3 a second example of a hand gesture in the visual field of anoperator;

FIG. 4 an example of an input scheme reproduced in the visual field ofan operator;

FIG. 5 an example of an object located in the visual field of anoperator, which has additional information in the form of bar codeslocated thereon; and

FIG. 6 an example of a case of application of a system for processingvalue documents having a user interface in the form of a mobile enddevice.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a system for processing value documentshaving a value-document processing apparatus 1 which in the following isalso referred to as “apparatus”, and at least one portable userinterface which in the present example is configured as so-called dataglasses 10 and/or a tablet computer 20.

The apparatus 1 has an input pocket 2 in which one or several stacks ofvalue documents to be processed, in particular bank notes BN, can beinputted by an operator or an input device provided for this purpose andbe made available for the further processing.

With the help of a singler respectively one bank note of the inputtedstack is drawn off and delivered to a transport device which conveys thebank note to a sensor device in which the physical properties thereofare captured and properties of the bank note, such as for exampleprinted image, denomination, authenticity and state, are derivedtherefrom. In dependence on the properties ascertained the bank note issupplied to an output pocket 3 or 4 and deposited there. Optionally,there can also be provided a shredder to which bank notes having certainproperties, such as e.g. insufficient fitness, are forwarded directlyfor destruction.

The operations upon processing bank notes BN in the apparatus 1,described above only very roughly, are controlled by a control device 5which is in a preferably contactless data communication with the userinterface 10 or 20 at which information regarding the bank noteprocessing operation and/or instructions directed to an operator arereproduced visually, on the one hand, and data and/or control commandsfor controlling the bank note processing in the apparatus 1 can beinputted by the operator, on the other hand. A wireless data connectionbetween control device 5 and user interface 10 or 20 can be effected,for example, by means of Bluetooth standard or WLAN.

A user interface configured as data glasses 10 has a carrier that issubstantially formed in glasses-like manner at which a camera 11 isprovided for taking images of the environment. The camera 11 ispreferably disposed and/or arranged such that in particular anenvironment region lying in the visual field of the operator carryingthe data glasses 10 is taken.

The data glasses 10 further have a display device 12, in the presentexample only schematically indicated, by which information which, forexample, is transmitted from the control device 5 to the data glasses 10is reproduced visually, so that the operator can perceive thisinformation.

For this purpose, the display device 12 may be configured, for example,as a semitransparent display which enables the operator's direct viewonto the environment, in particular onto the apparatus 1, on the onehand, and an inserting of additional information into the visual fieldof the operator, on the other hand.

Depending on the case of application, it may be advantageous to providethe display device 12 merely in certain regions of the visual field ofthe operator, such as for example in the edge region, and/or to drivethe display device 12 in such a way that it outputs information only incertain regions of the visual field of the operation, such as forexample the edge region.

It is further possible to arrange the display device 12 as a projectiondevice by which the information to be respectively reproduced isprojected directly onto the eye or the retina of the operator.

Regardless of the concrete configuration of the display device 12,additional information 13 can be visualized in the visual field of theoperator in this way—and thus independent of the actual viewingdirection—and be viewed by the operator together with the respectivelyviewed object, in the represented example the apparatus 1.

For illustrative reasons, in the present representation there isrepresented merely the operator's view through the left spectacle glassframe and the additional information 13 reproduced by means of displaydevice 12. If also the right spectacle glass frame of the data glasses10 is provided with a corresponding display device 12, the operator canperceive also with the right eye the respective additional information13 in addition to the apparatus 1.

The data glasses 10 can basically be any type of display devicesmountable at the head of an operator, so-called head-mounted display(HMD), which insert information and/or images into the visual field ofthe operator and thus deliver additional information to the operator.

Optionally, the data glasses 10 can be equipped with movement sensors tosynchronize the image respectively fed or the additional informationwith the head or eye movement of the operator.

Basically, the data glasses 10 can be additionally designed to outputlanguage and other contextual acoustic information.

Alternatively or additionally to the data glasses 10, as a userinterface there can be used a mobile end device, for example in the formof a tablet computer 20 or a smartphone, which has, besides a camera 21located on the back side, a display 22 located on the front side atwhich the images captured with the camera 21 can be reproduced. In thepresent example, the display 22 shows an image taken of the totalapparatus 1 together with additional information 23 pertaining to theapparatus 1 or the processing operation running in the apparatus 1.

The user interface 10 or 20 is preferably arranged and/or is preferablycontrolled in such a way that additional information 13 or 23 isreproduced in dependence on the viewing direction of the operator and/orof the camera 11 or 21. The additional information 13 or 23 respectivelydisplayed depends here preferably on which object, in particular whichportion or part of the apparatus 1, is viewed by the operator or istaken by means of camera 11 or 21. This brings information respectivelypertaining to the viewed region of the apparatus 1 or to the regioncaptured with the camera 11 or 21 to the operator's attention in aneasily capturable manner. For example, at the user interface 10 or 20there can be displayed data regarding the currently observed processingoperation or there can be given indications, e.g. that the currentlyviewed output pocket 3 or 4 is to be emptied or that bank notes are tobe added in the input pocket 2 in a short time. The operator thereforedoes not need to look at a display possibly provided at the housing ofthe apparatus 1, so as to be able to take note of for example errormessages or state messages of the apparatus 1 or action instructions.

Further, with the help of a such arranged user interface 10 or 20 it isalso possible to give to an operator support in carrying out repair workat the apparatus 1 within the framework of a so-called remote service,by the images respectively taken by the camera 11 or 21 beingtransmitted to a service station located at a remote site and therebeing examined by a service assistant who then gives to the operator atthe particular apparatus 1 on site the instructions necessary for therepair work in the form of inserted information 13 or 23 and/or acousticinformation.

Alternatively or additionally to the above-described configurationpossibilities of the data glasses 10, it is also possible to record theactivities executed by the operator in connection with the operation ofthe apparatus 1 with the camera 11 located at the data glasses 10 and toallocate and store this together with other processing data as a videostream to the respective deposit in a data bank (not represented) sothat any manipulations by the operator can also be reliably retracedafterwards. In this embodiment, it may be desirably that during therecording of the activities of the operator a corresponding symbol, forexample, “REC”, is reproduced visually in the display device 12 of thedata glasses 10.

As already mentioned, the user interface 20 is not only configured toreproduce additional information in the visual field of the operator ortogether with the image taken of the apparatus 1, but is preferably alsodesigned to enable an input or selection of information, in particularin the form of control commands for controlling the apparatus 1, by anoperator. This is described in more detail in the following.

For this purpose the data glasses 10 are preferably configured forcapturing with the camera 11 a gesture made in the visual field of theoperator and to interpret or identify it as information to be inputted.

FIG. 2 shows a first example of a hand gesture 14 made by an operator,which is recorded by the camera 11 and is interpreted in an evaluationdevice (not represented) as a stop command which in the present exampleis confirmed by outputting “STOP” as an additional information 13 in thevisual field of the operator.

The second example of a hand gesture 14 shown in FIG. 3, in contrast, isidentified as a start command which is also confirmed by a visualreproduction of a corresponding additional information 13 (“START”).

By a preferably wireless transmission of the respectively identifiedcontrol commands to the control device 5 there can be effected controlof the apparatus 1 corresponding to the respectively inputted commands.

Alternatively or additionally to the above-described gesture control,the data glasses 10 can be configured, as shown in FIG. 4 by way ofexample, for visualizing an input scheme 15 in the visual field of theoperator, for capturing the gestures 14 executed by the operator withrespect to the input scheme to 15 by means of camera 11, and forderiving therefrom the information to be respectively inputted.

In the present example the inserted input scheme 15 has the form of akeyboard or a numeric keypad which is projected, for example, by meansof a projection device onto an arbitrary area in the visual field of theoperator, for example a table area or also a palm area of the operator.

However, alternatively it is also possible to visualize the input scheme15 with the help of the display device 12 described above already inmore detail.

Alternatively or additionally to a keyboard for the input of letters ornumbers, the input scheme 15 may also include, however, selectionelements arranged in symbol-like manner, so-called icons, whose virtualactivation by means of hand gesture 14 can select a correspondingfunction or instruction for controlling the apparatus 1.

Analogously to the above-described display of additional information inthe visual field, which is independent of the actual view of theoperator, in this embodiment there is likewise achieved the advantagethat the operator does not have to look in the direction of an inputelement possibly located at the housing of the apparatus 1 and tooperate it by touching it with the hand, instead an input or selectionof information independent of the actual view of the operator andwithout being bound to a stationarily disposed input element ispossible.

FIG. 5 shows an example of an object 16 located in the visual field ofan operator, which has additional information in the form of bar codes17 located thereon. The object 16 can be, for example, a value document,a transport container for value documents, or a separator card forseparating different deposits of value documents or bank notes.Preferably, the data glasses 10 can be designed to capture the object 16including the bar codes 17 or any other coded or uncoded informationlocated thereon, which object is located in the visual field of theoperator, and to ascertain data contained in the bar codes 17 or in theother information with the help of the captured images. The dataobtained thereby can be reproduced, for example, at the display device12 in the above-described manner and/or forwarded to the control device5 or a memory device (not represented) for further processing orstorage. The data glasses 10 in this embodiment thus assumes also thefunction of a data scanner. Preferably, the data glasses 10 are arrangedsuch that a scan process can be started and/or terminated by a gesture,in particular hand gesture, and/or a voice command of the operator.

Preferred configurations of the portable user interface were describedabove in connection with the FIGS. 2 to 5 with reference to data glasses10 accordingly arranged. However, the statements hereinabove also applyaccordingly to a mobile end device, for example in the form of a tabletcomputer 20 or a smartphone, what is explained by way of example withreference to a case of application shown in FIG. 6, in which as aportable user interface there is used a mobile end device in the form ofa tablet computer 20. In the represented example, by the camera 21located on the back side of the tablet computer 20 there is taken animage of the region of the input pocket 2 of the apparatus 1 andreproduced at the display 22. The tablet computer 20 and/or the controldevice 5 here is arranged in such a way that any information pertainingto the input pocket 2 is displayed together with the image of thepertaining portion of the apparatus 1 reproduced on the display 22. Inthe shown example, the message “INSERT BN” is displayed in thereproduced image together with an arrow, thereby prompting the operatorto add a bank-note stack into the input pocket 2, in order to make thisbank-note stack available for further processing.

The additional information displayed by the display device 12 or 22 mayalso be, for example, deposit-related additional information regardingbank notes which are provided for a so-called manual post-processing,such as for example special rejection reasons, such as a missingsecurity feature or serial number.

Alternatively or additionally, the display device 12 or 22 can also bedesigned to display image information regarding an individual bank noteobtained with a sensor device provided in the apparatus 1, such as forexample a magnetic image or an infrared image. Alternatively oradditionally, at the display device 12 or 22 there can also bereproduced images which were recorded with an infrared camera installedat a manual post-processing station for checking suspect bank notes.Altogether, this can accelerate the manual rework, improve a recognitionof forgeries and, not least, reduce the tiredness of the operating staff

By means of data glasses 10 and/or mobile end devices 20 the operatordoes not only see the respectively viewed reality, for example in theform of a portion of the apparatus 1, but also relevant additionalinformation which extends the reality virtually, which is why inconnection with the user guidance or operation of the apparatus 1 by theportable user interface 10 or 20 one can also speak of “augmentedreality” or “virtual reality”. So as to insert virtual informationcorrectly positioned and in real time into the respective real scene,preferably three steps are passed through: image taking and imageprocessing, recognition of position and image reproduction (so-calledrendering). In so doing, the camera images are first read in and byimage processing algorithms freed from disturbing influences andprocessed for the subsequent treatment. With the help of the featuresfound in the camera image taken, as for example parts of an image knownbefore, the relation between camera and recognized area is calculated.This calculation forms the basis for the correctly positionedrepresentation of the augmented reality elements, i.e. of the respectiveinformation additionally inserted. Consistent with the viewed scene, thevirtual scene elements are reproduced in the camera image and theaccordingly extended reality becomes visible to the viewer. Preferably,the three described steps are repeated approx. 30 times per second. Inso doing, a perspectively always correct representation of thepertaining information is guaranteed.

Alternatively or additionally to the above-described cases ofapplication, the portable user interface 10 or 20 can also be employedfor monitoring the flow of material in a so-called cash center, by therespective stock being pursued and/or the bank note throughput in thedifferent departments, the storage handling as well as the coordinationby staff and goods being monitored. The statements in connection withthe examples shown in the FIGS. 1 to 6 will apply accordingly here.

The portable user interface 10 or 20 according to the present inventioncan completely replace, depending on the configuration, an operatordisplay having touch screen usually provided at the equipment of theapparatus 1. The interactions usually performed at the operator displayat the apparatus 1 can be carried out completely via the mobile userinterface 10 or 20, such as for example inserting a message, a menuselection by capturing the viewing direction of the operator or of thecamera 11 or 21 as well as acknowledging the message by respectiveinputs, such as for example hand gestures, blinking or voice inputs.

Alternatively or additionally to the visual reproduction of informationpertaining to the current processing operation, the user interface 10 or20 can also be configured for outputting auxiliary information for theoperator or a service engineer, for example in the form of a videosequence or of operating indications for the sequence of hand movements.It is further possible to display contextual information from theservice or instruction manual of the apparatus 1. In connection withrepair work or maintenance work it can further be of advantage, forexample, to display setting points or thermographic images forrecognizing a possibly overheated bearing or a noise source, for exampleas a result of a broken bearing.

1.-10. (canceled)
 11. A system for processing value documents, includingbank notes, having an apparatus for processing, for conveying and/orchecking and/or counting and/or sorting, value documents, and a portableuser interface which is configured for receiving information pertainingto the apparatus and/or the processing of the value documents, capturingone or several images of the apparatus, and reproducing the receivedinformation and/or captured images.
 12. The system according to claim11, wherein the portable user interface is arranged for enabling aninput and/or selection of information for controlling the apparatus byan operator.
 13. The system according to claim 11, wherein the portableuser interface has a display device mountable at the head of an operatorin the form of glasses which are configured for visually reproducing thereceived information in at least a part of the visual field of theoperator.
 14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the portableuser interface has a camera which is configured for capturing images ofobjects located in the visual field of the operator.
 15. The systemaccording to claim 13, wherein the portable user interface is configuredfor recognizing in the captured images a gesture made by the operator,including a hand gesture, and to derive therefrom correspondinginformation for controlling the apparatus.
 16. The apparatus accordingto claim 15, wherein the portable user interface is configured forreproducing an input scheme, in the form of a keyboard or symbols, inthe visual field of the operator and for recognizing in the capturedimages a gesture of an input and/or selection made by the operator withrespect to the reproduced input scheme, and for deriving therefromrespective information for controlling the apparatus.
 17. The apparatusaccording to claim 16, wherein the portable user interface has aprojection device which is configured for projecting the input schemeonto an area.
 18. The system according to claim 13, wherein the portableuser interface is configured for capturing an image of an object locatedin the visual field of the operator, a transport container for valuedocuments or a separator card, and for ascertaining additionalinformation located on the object with the help of the captured image.19. The system according to claim 11, wherein the portable userinterface is arranged as a mobile end device, which is configured forcapturing at least one image of the apparatus and for reproducing thereceived information pertaining to the apparatus and/or the processingof the value documents together with the captured image of theapparatus.
 20. A method for processing value documents, in which valuedocuments are processed, including being conveyed and/or checked and/orcounted and/or sorted, in an apparatus, information pertaining to theapparatus and/or the processing of the value documents is received by aportable user interface, one or several images are captured by theportable user interface and the received information and/or capturedimages are reproduced by the portable user interface.